Defending the League Cup may not have been at the very top of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s list of priorities at the start of the season, although following last week’s narrow defeat to Manchester City in the semi-final first leg, getting to Wembley for the final will surely now take immediate precedence.

United fans will undoubtedly argue against the notion, but Carlos Tevez’s brace for the Citizens against his former employers last week went some way to demonstrating that Roberto Mancini’s side are capable of mixing it up with the Premier League’s established elite.

Since Mancini’s arrival, City have lost just once in seven games and are clearly serious contenders in the race to finish fourth in the Premier League. Mancini himself may have even higher expectations, although a place in next season’s Champions League will undoubtedly be seen as a success story in the eyes of Citizens’ supporters.

Ferguson’s United, meanwhile, comfortably dispatched of Hull City on the weekend to assume top spot in the title race. However, having already been dumped out of the FA Cup by Leeds United, defeat to City would be a bitter pill to swallow.

It’s one apiece in terms of meetings this season and while the outcome of Wednesday’s encounter may be difficult to predict, one thing for sure is that Manchester’s cross-city rivalry is well and truly alive and kicking once again.

With all the saber-rattling that's been going on between the two sides' players and fans, it's going to be a cauldron at Old Trafford, and both sides have to try and keep a cool head in the midst of it all, otherwise the match could get really ugly - you could expect player clashes, more red cards than goals , crowd hostility (especially toward the main actor Tevez) and possibly after the game, the FA sanctioning both sides. And the danger for both sides is this: regardless who wins tonight, if they reduce themselves to tearing each other apart, it might weaken them for their subsequent matches, and i wouldn't be surprised if they both lost at the weekend after this sure-to-be-hard-fought battle.